34. 1bid., 1,1.
110 Unfinished Literal Commentary on Genesis repetitions, additions, omissions, and variations in the text.29 In keeping with his programmatic statement at the beginning: non affirmando, sed quaerendo tractandum est,30 he continually asks questions of the biblical text and subjects every nuance of what it says to a detailed analysis. The words quaerere or quaestio run like a refrain throughout Augustine's commentary on Genesis.31 ln the practice of the ancient commentators the explanation of the words used was supplemented by an explanation of the realities mentioned in the text. Using various complementary sciences, a practice he later recommended in the second book of Teaching Christianity, Augustine, too, endeavored to explain problems of content in the biblical text. The fact that he acquired information about ques tions in physics, astronomy, and other natural sciences can be seen from places in the commentary on Genesis where he speaks about the cycle of the planets, the phases of the moon, and the origin of clouds, springs, and rivers.32 Further refer ences to the opinions of others (who are left anonymous) show that this exegete tried to acquaint himselfwith the "state ofscholarship" in regard to Genesis.33 lmportance of the work
Augustine's meticulous interpretation of the text of Genesis shows how the commentary respected the programmatic principles formulated at the beginning of the work. The many questions which the exegete puts to the biblical text and the abundance of his suggested answers attest that he was indeed determined to advance non affirmando, sed quaerendo,M that he distinguished carefully between opinions and certainties, and that he had equal respect for both reason and faith.
The reason why Augustine preserved and published this commentary despite its incompleteness may have been to leave behind him a document that would reveal an important phase of his theological and intellectual development.35 As compared with his early work, On Genesis against the Manichees, the unfin ished commentary on Genesis shows Augustine's effort to get beyond a primarily allegorical interpretation of the scriptures to an exegesis that was directed toward the literal meaning and made use both of the grammatical and
29. See ibid.. 4, 12 and 13; 5, 25; 8, 30-9, 30; 10, 32; 1 1, 34 and 35; 13, 38-39 and 42; 14, 47; 15, 48-49 and 51-53; 16,54. 30. 1bid., 1,1. 31. See ibid., 2, 5; 3, 6-8 and 10; 5, 19, 21 and 24; 6, 26 and 27; 9, 30; 14, 44. 32. See ibid.. 8, 29; 12, 37; 13, 38 and 40; 14, 44 and 47. 33. See ibid., 3. 7; 8, 29; 13,40; 14, 46 and 47; 16,62. 34. 1bid., 1,1. 35. Revisions 1 , 1 8, 1 (CCL 57. 54): "A pointer that will not, 1 think, be without its use, to my first attempts at cracking open and exploring the divine writings (index . . . non inutilis rudimentorum meorum in enucleandis atque scrutandis divinis eloquiis)."